Battle of the Books
Battle of the Books is a competition where you’ll work in teams to show off your knowledge of the selected books. In the spring teams will be competing against other FCPS middle schools and answer questions about the books while also playing fun games.
More information on meeting dates to come.
If you are interested in joining, please contact Debbie Scott
Find copies of the Battle of the Books in the center of the library, across from the new books. Also, check out the library catalog for the audiobook & eBook versions!
All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai boys Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat |
Explores the true story of the ordeal that twelve members of the young Wild Boars soccer team, along with their assistant coach, went through from June 23 to July 2 in 2018, when they got stuck inside a flooded cavern in Thailand. A team of people from around the world mobilized to save them. |
Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston |
Amari Peters has always believed that her missing brother, Quinton, is still alive somewhere. When she discovers a ticking briefcase in his closet, Amari learns about the existence of the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, a secret organization that deals with magicians, fairies, aliens, and other supernatural creatures. Amari accepts an invitation to join the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs but finds herself out of her depth and competing against other kids who have known about magic their entire lives. But Amari is determined to succeed in order to find out the truth about what happened to her brother. |
Barakah Beats by Maleeha Siddiqui |
"Twelve-year-old Nimra Sharif has spent her whole life in Islamic school, but now it's time to go to "real school." Nimra's nervous, but as long as she has Jenna, her best friend who already goes to the public school, she figures she can take on just about anything..." |
Before the Ever by Jacqueline Woodson |
ZJ's friends Ollie, Darry and Daniel help him cope when his father, a beloved professional football player, suffers severe headaches and memory loss that spell the end of his career. |
Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes |
Twelve-year-old Donte is the darker-skinned brother of Trey, which in his racist, mostly-white school has earned him the nickname Black Brother. When the captain of the school fencing team successfully frames him for something he didn't do, Donte is arrested and suspended from school. Joining a local youth center, Donte meets former Olympic fencer Arden Jones and begins training to defeat his school bully and find courage to confront the racist system that got him arrested. |
The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman |
Sworn enemies and fifth-grade classmates, Valentina Kaplan and Oksana Savchenko are sent from their home in Pripyat, Ukraine, to live with Valentina's grandmother in Leningrad after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion. Oksana, whose abusive father perished in the accident and whose mother is hospitalized, resents being sent with Valentina, because she's been taught her whole life to hate Jews. Yet, after seeing the warm relationship between Valentina and her grandmother Rita, Oksana begins to question the lies she's been told about herself and others, and begins a friendship with Valentina. |
Bloom by Kenneth Oppel |
After a mysterious rain, seeds sprout overnight into black grass that takes over everything in sight. Worse yet, they bloom and release toxic pollens, and even develop carnivorous pods that swallow animals and people. Anaya, Petra, and Seth, three teens living on Salt Spring Island near Vancouver, seem immune to the toxic plants and may be the only ones who can stop this invasion. |
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger |
In an America very similar to ours, Lipan Apache Elatsoe can raise the ghosts of dead animals while others have more dangerous magic skills. When her cousin is murdered, Elatsoe investigates the death and in the process she discovers gruesome secrets in her town of Willowbee. |
Hush-A-Bye by Jody Lee Mott |
One day, poor siblings Lucy and her Antonia discover a doll head, and Antonia claims it as her newest toy, naming it Hush-a-Bye. Lucy has to wonder when she hears Antonia speaking to the doll head one night, and seems to hear something speaking back to her, and then strange, bad things begin happening to people who make fun of Antonia for being poor. Lucy then asks Hush-a-Bye to protect her as well, but soon the doll's malicious power threatens to split even these siblings. |
It's the End of the World as I Know It by Matthew Landis |
Eighth grade is just around the corner but Derrick is more worried about the end of the world that he believes is coming September 21st when the Yellowstone supervolcano is going to erupt--which is right after the anniversary of Derrick's mom's death in Iraq. As he hurries to finish his fallout shelter, he allows his neighbor Misty to help. The clock ticks down and Derrick and Misty experience an end neither of them expected and they must work together if they want to survive it |
The Oracle Code by Marieke Nijkamp |
After a gunshot leaves her paralyzed, Barbara Gordon enters the Arkham Center for Independence, where Gotham's teens undergo physical and mental rehabilitation. Now using a wheelchair, Barbara must adapt to a new normal, but she feels like something is dangerously amiss. When patients go missing, it's up to Barbara to find a way to solve the mystery. |
Shark Summer by Ira Marcks |
When a Hollywood director starts filming a blockbuster action film on the otherwise sleepy island of Martha's Vineyard, thirteen-year-old Gayle and her friends set out to make their own film and solve an island mystery. |
Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare LeZotte |
Mary Lambert has felt safe and accepted on her beloved island of Martha's Vineyard, comforted by the fact that her great-great-grandfather was the first deaf islander and paved the way for many to learn sign language. However, when Mary's brother dies and her family shatters amidst land disputes with the English settlers and Wampanoag people, it paves the way for an opportunistic young scientist to come and study the island's prevalent deafness, and, without moral scruples, he begins using Mary as a "live specimen" for increasingly cruel experiments |
Starfish by Lisa Fipps |
Bullied and shamed her whole life for being fat, twelve-year-old Ellie finally gains the confidence to stand up for herself, with the help of some wonderful new allies. |
To Night Owl from Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan & Meg Wolitzer |
Unhappy about being sent to the same summer camp after their fathers start dating, Bett and Avery eventually begin scheming to get the couple back together after a break-up. Told entirely through emails. |